Style offers concrete rules you can follow. You can use it as a resource rather than a barrier to feeling good about yourself.

The key to personal style is understanding your individual beauty enough to know which looks will work for you and which probably won't.

You can't fit your clothes well and look your best if you don't know what you're working with.

You don't need money to look fabulous. There are so many awesome new designers, so many designers doing collections for mass retailers.

Your closet needs to be a place of joy and celebration of who are you now - not who you were.

Your personal style should evolve with age. To say you want the same style at 25 as at 45 is a mistake.

A lot of people have said that I'm super-snarky and mean. But honesty is the only way to get people to change. It's very important to be constructively critical - give people alternatives and you're giving them a new way to see themselves.

A lot of women don't realize that even a small heel helps you throw your shoulders back and keep your chest up; it really does make a difference in the way you present yourself. It changes your posture and makes you look more confident.

Clothes allow you to see yourself in a different light. They can transform you instantly and have a very real, visceral impact. Clothes become symbolic of who we are.

Fashion is an industry to make money. It plays into human psychology. We want to belong, we want to be loved. I'm not trying to demonize the fashion industry - I love the fashion industry - but style is about taking the control out of the industry's hand and having you decide what works for you.

I know what it feels like to struggle with your weight, and it makes me understand why women get attached to numbers on a scale or a dress size. It doesn't mean that I have gotten over all of it myself, because I have good days and bad days just like everyone else.

I own about 300 pairs of shoes. When I start to go over 300, I have mini-sales from my closet and give the money to charity. It's my way of recycling; I feel like I can give back to the universe.

I think that the way to have style is to accept where your body is right now, heavier or skinnier, whether you're going to change in the future and dress it as it is. The fact is you can always find clothes. It may be harder for plus sized people, I completely understand that. But I don't believe that it's impossible to dress with style.

I'm not one of those people who wakes up and thinks, 'Bring on the day!' I have to have about 7 pints of coffee before I'm even remotely awake. But I love the golden hour in the evening, as hokey as that sounds. Just as the sun is about to set and you get those lovely shadows and everything looks gold and yellow.

If you deny the reality of your body or your life, you'll never be able to dress any of it well - even the parts you love. You have to see it all to work with any of it.

If you only have work clothes - the black trouser and ribbed turtleneck you got four years ago at the Gap - you're not participating in your own style personality.

Self-esteem doesn't come simply from dressing well, but they are both something we can control. It's a missed opportunity when women say they don't have the money, figure, etc., because style is such a way to help cultivate the way women feel about themselves.

Some women are convinced that they are the same size they were 20 years ago. They also wear clothes that are too big in an effort to hide their body. Both cases are unflattering and work against your body. Some women are in denial about changing.

Style is not a reward for the skinny. It's not, 'iI I'm rich, thin and young.' You may not like your size, but then don't invest in leather leggings. Let yourself want the expensive bag and really love it and show it off and have a ball with it.

Texture is something we forget - it makes outfits look very expensive. You can do a monochromatic outfit, if you're afraid of things that are more colorful and printed, and still create interest.